Adam Gets Married
by Hannahfour
Summary: The McFaddens get the shock of their lives when their brother Adam comes home with a bride. How will their sister, 10 year old Heidi, deal with this unexpected event? This is Story #2.
1. Chapter 1

We have just gotten home from round-up. We were gone all week bringing our cows down from the high country. I just turned 10 so it was my first time to go and I had a lot of fun. My brothers gave me a hard time at first because I'm a girl, but I showed them I could handle it, for the most part. I couldn't wait to tell Crane all about it! We just had to take our horses over to the barn and get their saddles off and then we could go inside and relax. Adam gave his horse to Crane and ran up to the house. My brothers ask him where he's going but he doesn't answer. That's unusual for him so I wonder what he's doing.

We finish up with the horses and head to the house. We all come in and throw our coats on piles of dirty laundry that lay all around. Our house is kind of a mess. Actually, that's an understatement. Our house is a complete mess. We've got piles of dirty laundry everywhere, dirty dishes piled up in the sink, and I don't think anyone knows where the broom is.

We all make a beeline for the fridge. Guthrie beats me there and he starts passing out beer to all of our brothers. After he's given one to each of them he gets one for me, and then himself. Guthrie opens his and we smile at each other as he starts to take a sip. Brian comes by and grabs it out of his hand. "You guys know you can't drink until you're fourteeeeen!" He says, as he whacks the top of Guthrie's head with his dirty gloves, which he then throws in a pile of dirty clothes on the floor. Oh well, it was worth a try! We grab cokes instead.

Adam comes down the stairs and he's showered and has clean clothes on. He's going into town. My brothers all whoop and whistle at him, and Brian asks him to wait so he can go too.

"Not this time Brian," he says. "I've got some personal business to attend to." I don't really know what that means but my brothers seem to know 'cause they all whoop and whistle again as he walks out the door.

We're all glad to be home from round-up. We sit in the living room relaxing and we tell Crane all about the week. There's lots to tell. We tell him about the rabid coyote, and the night the coyotes got two of our calves, and I tell him how Guthrie and I pranked Brian. Crane thought that was pretty funny. When Guthrie and I had told him all our stories we went outside to play.

I'm a tomboy. I'd much rather be climbing trees and going on adventures than being inside playing with dolls. You almost have to be a tomboy when you're living with seven brothers! We decide to climb the big oak tree out front. We're almost as high as we can go when we hear the familiar sound of the jeep. Guthrie and I jump down and see Adam drive up. But he's not alone. There's a lady with him and he's towing an old camping trailer.

Guthrie yells, "Adam's back!" He runs over to meet them. I walk over to the porch and go stand on the bottom step. Normally I would've run over with Guthrie, but something feels different about this lady to me, so I stay on the step. I can't hear what they're saying, but Guthrie looks shocked. Next thing I know he's running up the stairs past me and yelling inside to everyone, "guess what! Adam got married!"

"Yeah right!" My brothers all yell at him as they rush out to the porch and stand there looking at Adam and the pretty lady.

Crane and Evan walk down to meet her. Adam looks nervous as he introduces them. I hear Adam say her name is Hannah. She's so pretty. She has dark, feathered hair and she's wearing a pretty white dress. I think she's beautiful! She looks just like Snow White to me. I know, I said I'm a tomboy, but that doesn't mean that I don't know about the princesses. Adam and Crane bought me princess books when I was little, and they would read the stories to me at bedtime. Brian would read me other stories 'cause he didn't like princesses that much. Anyways, Hannah looks just like Snow White, except that her hair is longer and she's not wearing a princess dress.

She smiles and Adam tells her these are his brothers. She says, "you boys live around here?" We kind of laugh a little and Brian, who's wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon because he's been cooking dinner says, with a straight face, "not around. Here." And he waves his wooden spoon around motioning to the house and ranch.

Hannah looks surprised and Adam looks nervous and says, "uh, Hannah, let me show you the house."

We walk in and we all crowd around her. She looks around at our messy house and you can tell she doesn't look happy. Adam starts to introduce us to her. He starts with Brian and goes on down the line. When Adam gets to me Hannah smiles at me and says, "and what's this little guys name?"  
I look up at her and yell, "I'm not a boy!" My brothers chuckle and I stomp out of the house.

"Uh, that's Heidi, our little sister," I hear Adam say as I slam the door.

* * *

I run over to the barn where my horse Lucy is. I love Lucy. I pet her and she nudges me so I hug her neck. I tell Lucy about Adam getting married to a girl named Hannah and that she thought I was a boy. I guess I can't blame her for thinking that. I did still have my dirty round-up clothes on, and my hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and I'm wearing a baseball cap.

A little while later Crane comes out and asks how I'm doing.

"I'm fine." I say, even though I'm still mad.

Crane puts his hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"Yep." I look up at him and he has a twinkle in his eyes. He picks me up and swings me around. That always makes me laugh.

"Then lets go have some dinner!" He says. He drops me to the ground and I laugh as he chases me back to the house.

* * *

Dinnertime in my house is always crazy. Actually, all our meals are. We all sit down at the table and talk a lot and pass the food around. If you don't speak up and ask for food to be passed to you, you don't eat. And you have to yell real loud because we're all talking to each other at the same time. The other way to get food is to grab it off the plate as its being passed by you or to just grab it off somebody else's plate. It could be very confusing. Especially to someone new to the family like Hannah.

Hannah is sitting at the end of the table and Guthrie and I sit next to her on either side. Everyone else is talking and eating and Hannah's not getting any food passed to her because she's not yelling what she wants us to pass. I feel a little sorry for her, but I'm still mad at her so I don't help her. Hannah gets Guthrie's attention and asks him to pass the bread.

Guthrie yells, "hey! Pass the damn bread!"

Everyone is silent except for me. I burst out laughing.

Adam says, "Guthrie! Watch your mouth!" And then Adam glares at me.

I shut my mouth and Guthrie says, "pass the damn bread, please!"

The bread gets passed down and then everyone starts talking and eating again. Guthrie and I smile at each other. We both know what the other is thinking. What prank should we pull on Hannah. That is, after all, one of our favorite things to do, pull pranks. Brian taught us everything we know. We look down at Adam and we can tell he knows what we're thinking too, because he doesn't look happy. He shakes his finger at us and yells down to us, "don't even think about it you two!" We smile at each other but then dinner is over because Crane says it's time for a business meeting. We all get up and leave Hannah alone sitting at the table.

The meeting is boring so I don't really listen. I hear something about a new cow we just bought. It's a bull and they're all happy about it. Why'd they spend our money on another cow? I decide to peek in on Hannah. She looks kind of sad in there all by herself doing the dishes. I think about going in and helping her but then I hear Guthrie shout that he wants to buy a color TV. We must finally have some money to spend!

I chime in "I want a new saddle for Lucy! It's black with silver rhinestones."

Everybody is yelling out what they want to buy and Crane says, "no. We can't buy anything yet."

I don't understand why they always talk about money if we don't have any. I decide to go back to peeking on Hannah.

I can see she's done with the dishes and she goes outside to the porch. I think she's crying. When the meeting is over Adam goes out to talk to her. I think everyone knows she's upset. Daniel and Crane start playing their guitars and sing a slow song called " Not a Bad Dream". I peek out the window and see Adam and Hannah talking. I go over to Brian and sit with him.

"I don't think I like Hannah being here," I tell him.

He gives me a hug and says, "I know what you mean lil' sis. I know what you mean." And he starts playing his harmonica with them.

I go and peek out the window and now they're kissing and slow dancing. Yuck! Why'd Adam have to go and get married! When the song's over Crane tells me to go take my bath and get ready for bed, so I do.

* * *

When I come out of the bathroom Hannah's outside the door waiting to go in. She smiles at me and I look up at her.

"I'm sorry Heidi that I called you a boy." I look up at her. She's really pretty. But I'm feeling a little shy so I look down and head off to my room.

My room is pretty small. I'm the only one in my family with my own room. It used to be my mom and dad's closet. They turned it into a nursery for me when I was born so I would be close to them. That was before they died when I was just a baby. When I was about four or five, Brian closed up the door on the bedroom side and made a new door that opens out to the hallway. It's just big enough for my bed and a small dresser.

I peek into Adam and Brian's bedroom. Brian is in there getting some of his stuff and Adam is pushing their beds together.

"Why are you doing that?" I ask.

"Hannah's going to sleep in here." Adam says.

"Where are you going to sleep, Brian?" I ask.

"Downstairs with Guthrie little sis." He says walking by me. He doesn't seem very happy about it.

"Why can't she sleep down there?" I ask.

"Go to bed Heidi!" Adam says sternly. "Crane?" He calls out. It's his turn to put me to bed.

"I'm here, I'm here." Crane says, coming up the stairs. "Come on Heidi lets get you in bed."

We go into my room and I hop in bed.

"Why did Adam get married? I ask.

"Because he loves Hannah," Crane said.

"Are you gonna get married Crane?"

My brothers don't really bring girls out to the ranch. I know they go out with girls and sometimes, especially Brian, have girlfriends but they usually don't bring them here. Probably because it's too messy.

"Someday I want to." Crane says.

"Is your wife gonna sleep here too? What if all you guys get married! Then there'd be lots of girls living in our house. Where would they all sleep?" I ask.

"I don't know Heidi. It's been a long day. Why don't you think about going to sleep now."

I lay down and Crane tucks me in. He sings me a song. It's a lullaby our mom sang to my brothers when they were little. Now Crane sings it to me. I smile up at him and he kisses me goodnight.

It doesn't take me long to fall asleep. It's our first night home from round-up and it has been a very busy day.


	2. Chapter 2

I awaken in the middle of the night to loud yelling. I sit up in my bed and listen.

"The cows are out!" I hear Evan yelling.

What! I jump out of my bed and race downstairs. My brothers are all down there running out the door.

"You two stay here!" Adam yells at Guthrie and me as he runs by us.

We stand on the porch and watch. It's dark outside and we can hear the cattle mooing and running all over the place. We can see the gate has been opened.

"Who opened the gate Guthrie?" I ask.

"I don't know. Should we go out and help them?" He asked.

"We'll, Adam told us to stay here, but maybe he didn't really mean it." We start to head down the porch stairs.

"Not so fast you two!" Hannah says coming up from behind us. "If Adam told you two to stay here then that's what you should do." She looked down at us. "He probably doesn't want you to get hurt. I don't want you to get hurt either," she's says smiling down at us. "You stay right here and I'll go see if they need our help." We look up at her and nod.

She runs down the steps and we watch her as she runs over to where all the commotion is. Our brothers are on their horses trying to get our cattle back into the pasture area. Hannah runs over to the gate but slips and falls down in a huge mud puddle! "Oh no!" Both Guthrie and I cry.

Hannah slowly walks back to the house. She walks up the porch steps to us. Her nightgown has mud all over it. She even has mud in hair! I feel sorry for her. She looks sad. "Why don't you two go back to bed. I don't think there's anything we can do to help," she says. We look up at her with our eyes big and nod to her as we walk inside and watch her walk slowly upstairs to the bathroom.

Guthrie and I go lay down on the couch but we can't go to sleep. There's too much noise outside. We can hear our brothers yelling at the cows and whistling. Upstairs we hear the water running as Hannah is getting a bath ready. We sit there quietly and listen to all the commotion going on around us.

* * *

We must've fallen asleep because we awake to the sounds of my brothers coming in. I can see it's light outside now and they're all yelling and mad. Guthrie and I sit up and look at each other. We listen quietly and find out that they weren't able to find all of our cows. Three are still missing and the new cow, the bull, we just bought is missing too. Brian is really mad. He starts yelling about some guy named Wheeler and his 'boys' who let our cows out.

"That must be who opened the gate," I whisper to Guthrie. He nods his head yes and quietly says, "shhh."

Brian wants to go fight them and some of my brothers agree but Adam says no. They see us sitting on the couch and Adam says, "lets all get some rest and we'll go look for the cows later this afternoon."

* * *

Later that day Guthrie and I go out to feed the horses and chickens. We always have lots chores to do because my brothers say it's a lot of hard work taking care of a ranch. I'm inside the barn feeding the chickens when I hear Guthrie talking to someone outside where he's feeding the horses.

I peek out the door and see Hannah there. She sees me and gives me a big smile and says, "Hi Heidi."

"Hi." I say, looking down, and giving her a little wave.

She starts to pet Evan's horse, Diablo. "Don't touch her if you value your arm." Guthrie says. "Once I pet her and she bit the sh..." Hannah gave him a disapproving look and he said, "she bit the shirt right off my arm." I give a little laugh 'cause I know exactly what he was going to say. Diablo likes me. Evan lets me feed her apples sometimes.

"Hannah, why'd you marry my brother? Guthrie asked.

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, I'm thinking about doing that someday and I'm just wondering why people do it." He looked up at her.

What! I can't believe Guthrie's talking about getting married! I continue to listen.

"Well, when you love someone so much you want to be around that person all the time. That's why Adam and I got married." She answered.

"Oh, ok," Guthrie says and goes back to feeding the horses. Hannah smiles and says she's going to walk back to the house and asks if we want to come with her.

"We have to finish our chores." Guthrie tells her.

"Can I help you?" She asks. Guthrie looks at me and I shake my head no.

"No, that's ok. We can do them." He says. Hannah gives me a big smile and says, "maybe next time." and she leaves.

"Why don't you like her?" Guthrie asks me.

"I don't know. Maybe because she thought I was a boy." I say.

"But she's really nice." Guthrie says.

Hearing him say that makes me feel a little mad. "Oh yeah! Well, Brian doesn't like her either!" I shout. And I go back in the barn and sit on a bale of hay and cry softly.

From the barn I can see Daniel and Evan out looking for our missing cows. The rest of my brothers are in the house. Why'd Adam have to go and get married! I wipe my tears away and finish feeding the chickens.

* * *

We finish our chores and go back to the house. Brian's in the kitchen cooking dinner. I love helping him. I go over and ask if I can help.

"Sure," he says. "Why the long face?"

I shrug my shoulders and bring the stool over to the stove and stir the big pot on top of it.

"Well, I know what'll cheer you up. How about some apple pie with ice cream for dessert tonight." He knows that's my favorite. I look up at him and smile a little.

"Can I have some now?" I ask. I put my hands together like I'm praying and give him my biggest smile. "Pleeeeeese?" I ask.

He laughs and says, "as long as you don't tell the others!" He tousled my hair. Brian always says that. He takes the ice cream out of the freezer and I get a big spoon.

"Hey! Save some for the rest of us!" He says while laughing at me.

I have a spoonful and he puts the rest back in the freezer. I go back to stirring the pot. He hands me the hot sauce and says, "give it a few shakes!" I'm laughing now and I've forgotten about how sad I was earlier. Cooking with Brian is always fun.

"Come 'n get it!" We yell.

Everyone rushes in and sits down and immediately their's a frenzy at the table. The food starts getting passed around to whoever yells the loudest and whoever grabs it first. Everyone's talking all at the same time. My brothers haven't found the missing cows yet. They're mad and Brian talks about wanting to go fight someone. Again Hannah is ignored and left out. I'm sitting next to her again like last night and I keep glancing at her. She doesn't look too happy. Then all of a sudden, she stands up and takes the table and lifts one side and tilts it so all the food slides onto me, Crane, Brian and Evan and knocks us all back so we fall onto the floor!

Everybody is quiet now and looking at her stunned. She tells us, "you boys had better find a way to get along with me or we are going to tango bad." She looks around at all of us and continues, "The dinner table is a place to talk with each other and I will not be ignored!" We all look at her. "Any questions?" She asks.

"Yeah! What's for desert?" Guthrie asks and my brothers all start laughing.

I get up and pick up my chair and my brothers do the same. Everyone's still laughing except for me. Brian goes over to get dessert and brings it to the table. They all look like they're having fun. Even Hannah. I quietly go out the back door and sit on the top step of the porch.

I start to feel sad but I don't know why. I pull my knees up to my chest and cry softly. It's dark outside. The moon is out and I can see my horse, Lucy, out by the barn. Inside everyone is laughing and eating dessert.

I hear the screen door open and someone sits down next to me. "I brought you some dessert. It's your favorite." Adam says. "It's apple pie with ice cream."

"No thank you," I said.

"Heidi, "What's wrong?" Adam asks. I hug my knees tighter to my chest and the tears fall down my cheeks.

"I don't know," I say.

"Is it Hannah?" I nod my head and cry.

Adam picks me up and holds me on his lap. "Shhh." He whispers. "It's going to be ok." He gently rocks me back and forth and kisses the top of my head. I feel safe and secure in his arms. But then he says, "I think once you get to know her you'll really like her."

"No!" I yell. I push against his chest and break away from him and run inside and up to my room. Everyone stops eating and stares at me. I run into my room and slam the door.

I fall onto my bed and cry into my pillow. I don't understand why I'm feeling this way. Soon I hear a soft knock on my door.

"Heidi, can I come in?" It's Adam.

"No!" I yell. "Go away!"

"It's Crane and Daniel too." I hear them say.

"Go away!" I cry.

It's quiet for a little bit and then I can hear a guitar playing softly. Daniel and Crane start singing and it's one of my favorite songs. I listen for a while and wipe my eyes. I stop crying and sit up in my bed listening. I go stand by the door trying to decide if I should open it. I decide I should. Adam is right there and he kneels down and I run into his arms. He hugs me and kisses the top of my head while I listen to the song. When they're done singing Adam carries me to my bed and he sits on the edge and all three of them sing the lullaby mama used to sing to them when they were little. I fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I awaken in the morning to the smell of bacon. I sit up and stretch. The sun is shining on me through the small window in my room. I can hear my brothers downstairs getting breakfast ready. The bacon smells good and I start to get out of bed, but then I freeze when I hear Hannah's voice downstairs. I remember how upset I was last night. I feel embarrassed because I cried a lot. Should I go downstairs? I lean back against my pillow and lay there thinking.

Guthrie runs into my room. "Heidi, guess what?" He's really excited about something. "Hannah's making cinnamon rolls!" Normally I would be really excited about that. Brian's a good cook, but he never makes cinnamon rolls. Usually we only have those if we go to Marie's Restaurant in town for breakfast and that is hardly ever.

"I'm not hungry." I say. It's a lie but I don't know what else to say or do. Why does Hannah have to know how to make cinnamon rolls? Why can't she just make boring old oatmeal?

"Ok, but you know there won't be any left," he says as he leaves my room and runs downstairs. He's right. There won't be any left at all.

I hear Brian whistle and he yells upstairs, "Evan, Ford, Heidi! Breakfast!" Well at least I'm not the only one still in bed. I decide to get up.

Evan and Ford race by me on the stairs. I can smell the cinnamon rolls now. They smell so good! I'm afraid to go into the kitchen so I stop and linger in the living room. I can hear all the commotion going on as everyone gets breakfast on the table. Crane sees me and smiles. He walks over, picks me up and swings me around until I laugh. "Good morning!" He says and plants a big kiss on my forehead.

"Yuck! Stop it Crane!" I laugh. He drags me into the kitchen. I don't know why but I feel nervous. My brothers all say good morning to me while they're putting stuff on the table. Adam gives me a hug as I walk by and I hear Hannah say good morning to me. I quietly walk over to my chair and sit down.

Everyone sits down and starts yelling and passing things around like we usually do, when Hannah yells, "stop!"

Everyone looks at her. "Pass things to the right and then everyone will get some," shy says smiling. I look up at her. Her smile is so pretty. She looks at me and I quickly look down at my plate. Everything gets passed around the table and it seems like that was a good idea. Everybody IS getting everything. And we're not yelling at each other.

When the cinnamon rolls get passed to me I put one on my plate. They look like Marie's, they smell like Marie's, I take a bite, they even taste like Marie's! Everyone else agrees because they're all telling her what a great cook she is. I guess she used to be a waitress at Marie's because she tells us Marie gave her the secret recipe. I still think Brian's the best cook.

* * *

After breakfast Guthrie, Ford and I go out to the barn to do our chores. I can see Adam and Daniel heading out on their horses to go search for the missing cows. They are going up to the high country today to look for them. I hope they find them. My brothers all seem really upset that the cows are missing. I still don't understand why someone would let our cows out, but Ford says not to worry about it. We finish our chores and go back to the house.

* * *

We walk into the kitchen and Brian's at the table making a grocery list. Hannah comes in and she looks really pretty. She's wearing a pretty blue cowgirl shirt with a long blue jean skirt and cowgirl boots. She asks Brian if she can borrow the truck to go into town. I look over at Brian and I can tell he doesn't want to let her borrow the truck.

"I'll take you. I have to do some shopping." He tells her.

Ford, Guthrie and I ask Brian if we can go too. He says yes, but Hannah tells us we have to change our shirts and wash up first. Ford and Guthrie run upstairs to change but I go stand next to Brian. I'm not going to change. We've never had to do that before. Brian puts his arm around my waist and gives me a little squeeze.

We all run out to the truck. Hannah, Ford, Evan, Guthrie and I jump in the back and Crane and Brian get up in front. Brian starts the truck and we're off to town.

Murphys is a very small town here in the foothills. We have some stores, a few restaurants and a hotel. Most of the people that live around here are ranchers like us. Everybody knows everybody which my brothers say is both good and bad. They say there's a lot of gossip and everyone knows everyone else's business. Brian always says, "if you don't know what you're doing, just ask someone in town and they'll tell you!" I don't know what that means but my brothers all think it's funny.

When we get into town Ford and Guthrie help Hannah out of the truck. A pretty girl walks up and says hi to Ford. Guthrie and I smile at each other. Her name is Cleo and Ford likes her. Ford says hi back and she asks him if he's going to the fair and the dance afterwards. Ford says he's not sure. When she walks away Guthrie and I laugh and make kissing noises. Ford chases us around the truck until Hannah says, "I'm going to Marie's. She's got some good cherry pie today."

Hannah walks over to the restaurant and Guthrie and Ford go with her. Brian, Crane, and Evan are going to the General Store so I go with them.

We all walk in and I go right to the candy isle. We're only in there for a few minutes when I hear Brian yell, "Wheeler's boys!" He runs out of the store.

"Brian!" Crane yells out to him, but Brian is already out the door!

"Evan! Get Heidi," Crane yells, "Brian's going to do something stupid!"

We rush out of the store and Brian is already across the street punching someone!

"Fight!" I yell excitedly. My brothers get in a lot of fights and they usually win. They're fun to watch too.

Crane and Evan rush over to help Brian just as Brian hits the guy right through the glass door of Marie's Restaurant! I look inside and Guthrie and Ford are yelling at Brian, "come on Brian, get him! Punch him Brian!" I'm yelling the same thing from outside.

There's another guy to fight so Crane helps Brian out by trying to hold the other guy back so he can't get into the fight. Hannah's inside and she's yelling at Brian, "Stop!" She runs over and pulls Brian away so he eventually has to stop fighting. Now Brian and the guy are yelling at each other. It sounds like those are the guys that let our cows out. Hannah eases up on Brian and he goes in for another punch. "Get him Brian!" Guthrie, Evan, Ford and I yell."

Hannah and Crane push Brian out of the restaurant. "This isn't over!" Brian yells with his fist in the air.

I look at Hannah and I'm mad! "Why do you always have to ruin everything!" I yell! "Brian was winning!" I run across the street and climb in the back of the truck. I sit and cross my arms over my chest. I'm mad!

Evan and Crane drag Brian over to the truck and put him in back. They climb in back too and I move over to Brian and sit next to him and give him a hug. His nose is bleeding and he has a bruise on his cheek and a cut above his eyebrow.

Guthrie and Ford sit in front with Hannah and she drives us back to the ranch.

"You were winning Brian!" I tell him. He gives me a sly looking smile.

"Be quiet Heidi." Crane says to me. "Fighting doesn't solve anything and it's wrong." I glare at him.

Evan laughs and pushes Brian's leg with his foot as he says, "but it sure did feel good Brian, didn't it?" Brian laughs and Crane does too. They talk about the fight all the way home and decide what they're going to tell Adam because they know he's not going to be happy. I just sit there quietly listening and wondering why I feel so mad inside.

When we arrive at the ranch I'm the first one to hop out. "Where're you going Heidi?" Crane yells after me.

"I'm going to feed Lucy!" I yell back. Which is a lie.

I run to the barn and get my saddle. I bring it over to Lucy. She always makes me feel better. I give her a hug and then put her saddle on. I walk her over to the stepping block and get on the block. I climb on Lucy and ride her out to the pasture gate. I open it and take Lucy in and close the gate behind us. Then we ride. I ride her as fast I can. I don't know where we're going yet, but then again, I don't care.


	4. Chapter 4

I ride out on the open pasture not caring where Lucy takes me. I feel so mad inside! It seems like Hannah is changing everything. She wouldn't let Brian fight, she wants us to put clean clothes on, she makes us pass food around the table and, Guthrie likes her. It's not fair! Why did Adam get married? He didn't even ask us if he could. We always have family meetings to decide what we should do about everything. Always!

I look around and see that Lucy is taking us to the river. I ease up on the reins and let her walk over to it. She's probably thirsty.

"What am I going to do Lucy?" I ask her. I always talk to Lucy. Especially if I have a problem. "It's not that Hannah's mean or anything. I mean, I guess she's actually pretty nice. She makes good cinnamon rolls. She has a really pretty smile." We're at the river now and Lucy finds a good place to drink.

I think about getting off Lucy and walking around a bit, but I realize then that I didn't bring a rope with me to tie her somewhere. If I got off now and she ran away it would be a long walk home. I also realize then that I didn't tell anyone where I was going, and I'm not supposed to go this far by myself. "Maybe no one will notice if I'm gone." I tell Lucy. Who am I kidding. Of course they'll notice. Well, I'm not ready to go back yet.

I lead Lucy upstream. It's quiet out here. Usually Guthrie and I come out here together. Neither one of us is supposed to be out this far from the house alone.

"We could be looking for frogs, or lizards or fishing if Guthrie was here, Lucy." Maybe I should go back? The sun isn't high in the sky anymore. It's probably mid afternoon. "Let's go upstream a little farther," I tell Lucy, " then we'll go back."

I hear horses coming. I look over and see Evan and Ford riding up. Darn. At least it's not Adam though.

"What are you doing Heidi!" Evan yells over to me. "You didn't tell anyone where you were going! Crane's worried about you. He told us to go find you. You'd better come home before Adam gets back!"

I look over at them and glare at Evan. Then I shrug my shoulders and lead Lucy over to them. We get started on our way back home.

"What were you thinking?" Evan asks.

"I don't know! Just leave me alone!" I yell. I hear Ford tell Evan to back off and we ride back in silence.

* * *

When we get to the barn I take Lucy's saddle off and go put it inside. I can see Crane walking out to the barn and Evan and Ford meet him and are talking to him. They're probably telling him I was over by the river. I come out of the barn and walk as fast as I can right by them with my head down.

"Heidi! Get over here!" Crane yells at me. He hardly ever does that. I walk over and look up at him. I feel the tears well up in my eyes. "I was worried sick about you! What were you thinking?"

I look at him and shrug my shoulders unable to speak.

"Get in the house and go to your room!" He yells. I run now. I run up the porch steps, fly through the front door and run up to my room. I slam the door and lay on my bed crying. Crane's never yelled at me like that before.

* * *

I cried for a while and then sat up on my bed thinking about the day so far. Why am I always crying? I don't get to think too long about that because I hear the front door open downstairs. There's lots of talking. I open my door a little and stand there listening.

Adam and Daniel are back. They've found the missing cows and the bull is dead. My brothers are mad! They're all yelling. Adam wants to know what happened to Brian's face and when he finds out Brian was fighting he starts yelling at him. There's so much commotion going on down there! Then Crane whistles loudly and tells everyone to calm down and be quiet. "This isn't helping anyone," he says.

"Crane's right," Adam says, calming down, "this isn't helping at all. Brian why don't you get dinner started and we'll try to get this all sorted out later tonight." Hannah follows Brian into the kitchen and Adam starts to sit down on the couch but Crane pulls him over. "Adam, we need to talk about Heidi." They both look up at my room and I shut the door.

"She did what!" I hear Adam yell. Darn. I was hoping with all the commotion they would've forgotten about me. I sit on my bed waiting.

* * *

It doesn't take long before I hear a hard knock on my door and it flies open. Adam stands in the doorway and I sit on my bed looking down at the floor.

"I heard you rode Lucy out to the river today!" He yells at me.

Yup, he's mad. I nod my head.

"I also heard you didn't tell anyone you were going there!" I nod again.

"And you went by yourself?" I nod. It's not really a question I'm supposed to answer. He's kind of pacing back and forth in and out of my room while he's yelling at me 'cause my room is so small.

"I swear Heidi, you are turning out to be Brian, Daniel, and Evan all rolled into one!" Is that good or bad, I wonder to myself. I think Adam can read my mind 'cause he said, "and that's NOT good!" Oh, ok.

"You can forget about riding Lucy for the rest of the week!" He yells.

"No!" I cry, looking up at him. "Im sorry! I won't do it again!" I cry. The tears are running down my cheeks.

"Those tears aren't gonna work on me this time! You did something really stupid." I look down but I think the tears are working 'cause Adam stops yelling.

He sighs. "You know we have rules for a reason Heidi. And you know you're not allowed to go that far by yourself. Living on a ranch can be dangerous sometimes and that's why we have rules to keep you safe." I nod. He sits down on the bed.

"Look at me Heidi." I look up and wipe the tears from my cheeks. He doesn't look mad but he doesn't look happy either. "You know better. I know your unhappy because Hannah's here and things seem different to you, but you still have to follow the rules."

"I know," I say quietly. "I'm really sorry Adam. I was just so mad." And I start crying again. And then it all comes out. I tell him about Brian fighting and Hannah stopping him and how I yelled at Hannah and that I was so mad I just rode off on Lucy. I was talking really fast and sometime during blurting all that out Adam has lifted me up onto his lap and is holding me.

"Shhh...," he says quietly, stroking my hair, "it sounds like you've had a bad day just like the rest of us." I nod my head and he just holds me for a while.

After a while he holds me away from his chest so we can look at each other. "Promise me you won't go off by yourself like that again." He says sternly.

"I promise." I say.

"Alright. No riding Lucy for a week and don't even THINK about going somewhere without telling us where you're going. Okay?" He says looking straight into my eyes.

"Okay," I say.

"Good!" He smiles at me now. "What am I going to do with you! You're still so little! You're only ten years old!"

He tussles my hair and I put my hands on my hips, smile, and shout, "I'm not little!" And we both laugh.

He stands up lifting me up with him and gives me a hug. "Better?" He asks. "Better!" I say, and I do feel better.

He puts me down. "Now let's go see what Brian's cooking!" We head out of my room.

Just then we hear a truck driving up to the house and Daniel runs inside yelling, "Adam! It's Wheeler!"

Adam runs downstairs just as Brian comes running from the kitchen.

"Let me handle this Brian!" Adam yells. "You're not gonna fight this time. We're just gonna go out and talk." And he heads outside with Brian.

My brothers all run out to the porch and I run downstairs and out to the porch too. Hannah doesn't though. She goes up to her bedroom.

Adam is talking to a man named Wheeler. I can't make out what they're saying but Adam looks mad. Wheeler leaves and Brian starts yelling at Adam.

"Now we're gonna have to sell our ranch to Wheeler!" He yells.

"What!" Both Guthrie and I cry.

"Ford! Get those two inside!" Adam yells and motions to me and Guthrie.

Ford rushes us into the house and we can hear Brian and Adam outside yelling at each other. "Are we gonna have to sell the ranch, Ford?" Both Guthrie and I ask. "Don't worry you guys. Adam'll figure it out." He gives us both a hug because now we're both crying.


	5. Chapter 5

Ford stays inside with us and we sit on the couch listening to all the yelling going on outside. Hannah came running down the stairs and ran outside. We sit and wait.

After a while the yelling stops and we just hear talking. Everyone comes into the house and Brian and Hannah go into the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready.

"Are we gonna lose the ranch Adam?" Guthrie asks.

"Don't you two worry about this. No one's gonna sell the ranch!" He's yelling that to everyone now. It seems like things have calmed down.

"Boy, there sure is a lot of yelling today," I say to anyone listening, but I look at Crane. Crane is sitting in a chair tuning his guitar.

I can't believe he yelled at me earlier. He looks at me and then he looks back at his guitar. He must still be mad at me.

"Yah, and you were doing a lot of it Heidi," Guthrie says to me and flicks my baseball hat off. We laugh as I try to knock Guthrie's hat off. Crane comes over and sits on the couch next to me. He puts his hand on my knee and I look up at him.

"You really worried me today twerp," he said.

"I'm sorry Crane. I didn't mean to," I tell him. "Are you still mad at me?" I ask.

He picked up my hat and put it on my head and pulled it down so it was covering my eyes. "Hey!" I yelled. "I can't see!" And I laugh as Crane and Guthrie pin me to the couch and tickle me. "I could never stay mad at you little sis!"

"Time to eat!" Brian called out. We run to the table and sit down. I'm starving and everything smells so good. We all pass things around the table and everyone starts talking about Wheeler and the bull. I don't really understand what they're talking about so I tune them out. I look up at Hannah and watch her talk. She has a pretty voice. She's a part of the conversations at the table now. My brothers take turns talking at the table now too. I start to smile. It's nice to eat like this I think. She's looking at me now with a smile on her face. Oops! I quickly look down at my plate. I look over at Guthrie and he's laughing at me. I stick my tongue out and him and he laughs harder and milk comes out of his mouth. Now I'm laughing.

* * *

After dinner Guthrie and I go sit on the couch. Evan and Ford are in the kitchen doing the dishes. Hannah goes upstairs, Adam and Brian go out to the porch to talk, and Daniel and Crane grab their guitars and sit down to play. They aren't really playing a song, just fiddling around.

Guthrie looks at me and smiles. "I'm bored. Wanna prank somebody?"

"Hannah?" I ask, smiling.

Guthrie's smile fades away and he says, "I don't think we should do that yet. How 'bout Brian again?" And he laughs.

"No thanks," I say sighing. This is going to be a boring tonight.

"Come on Heidi! You're being boring!" Guthrie says to me. He pushes my leg with his foot. We wrestle and play fight with each other sometimes but I'm not really in the mood right now. My brothers have taught me how to fight and I watch them wrestle and fight all the time. But Guthrie's really beginning to bother me.

"If you don't shut up Guthrie I'm gonna punch you in the nose! Just like Brian did to that guy today!" I yell at him and I kick him hard.

"Hey you two! Knock it off!" Daniel yells and throws a pillow at us. That brings Adam and Brian inside and the others are done doing the dishes. We all sit around in the living room doing nothing which is very unusual for us.

Hannah comes downstairs and says, "come on guys! Why the long faces?" She smiles at all of us. "Ford lets teach you how to dance so you can ask Cleo at the dance."

This should be interesting. Guthrie and I look at each other smiling and shrug our shoulders and watch.

Hannah asks Daniel to play a two-step and she gets Ford up on his feet and starts to teach him.

Ford smiles and looks shy but Hannah dances with him and he picks it up fast. Soon they're dancing around the room and Ford looks like he's having fun.

Now Guthrie and Evan want to learn. Hannah makes Evan dance with Ford while she dances with Guthrie. Now they're all dancing around and it looks like lots of fun. If there's one thing my family likes to do it's dancing. And singing. I guess that's two things we like to do.

I walk over to Brian and sit with him. I'm not going to dance. Even though it looks like so much fun, I'm not going to. I'm used to dancing with just my brothers and nobody else. Daniel gives the guitar to Crane and now he's up dancing!

Adam is next to us and he says to Brian, excitedly, "doesn't she just light up the place like the old days?"

Brian stares at Hannah and answers, "the old days were just you, me, and the family, Adam. Now everything's different."

"Brian you're still a part of this family and nothing's gonna change that!" Adam looks at me and says, "same with you!" And he puts his hands on my shoulders and shakes me a little. I smile, but just a little smile.

Now Hannah wants to teach my brothers how to square dance. She doesn't know it, but we already know how to square dance. My mom and dad taught my brothers how to do that when they were really little. It's really funny because my brothers are trying to trick Hannah. They pretend they don't know how but it doesn't take her long to figure out they do know how. Crane gives Adam the guitar so he can go join in on the dancing and Adam plays guitar and calls out the square dance moves. They're dancing all over the place! I start smiling and clapping along.

Then Adam joins in the dancing and now Brian's playing the guitar! They all look like they're having fun. They're running upstairs and jumping down from the landing. Guthrie's dancing on top of the coffee table and I wish I could join him. I'm laughing and tapping my foot while I clap. Then Adam and Hannah come over to me and Brian and want us to join. I watch Brian to see what he does and he smiles and joins in, so I do too.

We dance all around the house with them. It's so much fun! I love dancing with my brothers. We always have fun when we do. I'm dancing and laughing and I forget all about being mad and sad today. I think everyone's forgetting about the bad day we all had today.

We're all dancing with each other and changing partners and the next thing I know, I'm holding hands with Hannah and she's spinning me around.

She's laughing and smiling and I'm laughing and smiling with her. She's so nice and she's so pretty and she has such a pretty laugh. We spin and spin and spin until we fall on the couch exhausted and laughing. Everyone's laughing and falling all around. We're all happy and exhausted.

And then Hannah leans over and gives me a big hug...and I let her.

The hug feels good to me. She smells good. Like pretty flowers. I hug her back and I don't want to let go.

Adam comes over to the couch and sits next to us. I look at him and he's smiling at Hannah. I start to feel shy so I let go and scoot over to him. He strokes my hair and I look up at Hannah and smile.

She smiles her big pretty smile at me and says, "you're a good dancer Heidi. It looks like you were having fun."

I smile and nod at her. "I like to dance. You're a good dancer too."

"Thank you," she says still smiling at me. I look at her for a while and then I decide to do it. I reach out and give her the biggest hug I can!

She hugs me back and then Adam is hugging us both.


End file.
